NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL A STEAK SANDWICH!

 

I have 2 sisters and when we were teenagers my mother quite often made us hamburgers on a Saturday night. We were all doing different things at different times, so she made the patties and set out the 'fixings' and the electric griddle thing so we could each cook our own burger at a time to suit our plans for the evening.  With that as inspiration we had steak sandwiches for dinner tonight, each a little different.  Here is Joseph's, which he declared to be delicious.  Steak was sirloin, as it was on special at our wonderful Wilton Village Market  today and the bread has to be from Michaelina's,  one of 2 great bakeries we have right here in Wilton. Only thing I got wrong is that I cooked it for him, really need to work on that!

DAVE'S DELECTABLE MUSHROOM SOUP

Two years ago when Harlan was born we were down in Folly for New Years Eve with the brand new family.  Dave cooked us a wonderful New Year's Eve dinner which he threw together in 2 hours, would have taken me all day! We started with this mushroom soup which I recently recreated when Anne was visiting from Australia.  We had a quiet dinner to catch up on the night she arrived at Julia's, in the excitement of the evening I forgot to take a picture, will add one next time I do this, Alan is asking for it!

MUSHROOM AND TRUFFLE SOUP

• 1 Package Crimini mushrooms
• 1/4 of large yellow onion
• Butter - about 1 stick
• Chicken stock - about a cup
• Truffle oil
• Salt

Put the mushrooms in an oven safe dish. Take  half a stick of butter and cut it up into 1/2 inch pieces.    Place the butter on top of the mushrooms and season well with salt.  Sprinkle with a tsp of of truffle oil and place a 1/2 cup of stock in the bottom of the pan.   Cover and cook at 400 for 30-45 minutes or until cooked thoroughly .  Once mushrooms are cooked through, Place them and the liquid into a blender and begin to puree... If you need more liquid add stock.   Puree until smooth and add Small chunks of butter to make it creamier (while it is pureeing).  Season with salt and truffle oil to taste.
Makes about 2 large or 4 small servings.
Notes: The day I did this could not find crimini's so used baby bella mushrooms and it was still delicious. I used at least one cup of stock and garnished with thinly sliced mushrooms, seared til crispy.

Garnish options 

Seared mushrooms with chopped chives
Creme fraiche
Chives cut on the bias in 1 inch pieces
Truffle oil
Truffle oil mixed with creme fraiche
Dave's  favorite garnish:  Seared scallop, dusted in porcini powder before searing.
You can make porcini powder by grinding up dried porcini's in a coffee blender, some places sell it. (Cut scallop up in five Pieces for looks)

SNOW DAY = HOME MADE SOUP

Thanks to 20 inches of snow last night we were all home today and I wanted to make some soup for lunch out of whatever I had in my fridge and cupboard. Had most of a fairly large cauliflower which I love, that choice was easy. Then rushed to Epicurious and decided on Stilton Cauliflower Soup. Was having a busy day as I was working at home and this recipe looked easy, not too time consuming and I had all the ingredients, more or less!

I used Roquefort instead of Stilton and it was really delicious if not very photogenic! Added a small grainy loaf from Costco (love their bread) which I let defrost, passed briefly under a running cold tap, then put in 350 degree oven for about 20mins. Great trick with crusty bread, assume the water helps it not to dry out while getting all warm and crusty! Might try a different garnish next time, but hey, this was just a busy Wednesday lunch!

CHRISTMAS CAKE

I make this cake once a year - shocker!  Each time it is a little different.  It was pretty good this year, according to Alan who is the most ardent fan of this cake.  My sister has been making this cake for many years, I believe the recipe came from Aunty Elaine, thank you.

BOILED FRUIT CAKE

• 3 eggs
• 6 Tbsps butter
• 2 pounds fruit & nuts ( I use raisins, golden raisins, red glace cherries, dates and walnuts)
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 pinches salt
• 2 tsps baking soda
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup brandy
• 1 & 3/4 cups water (can use 2 cups and omit brandy)

Prepare 8" square tin or equivalent by lining sides with cardboard covered in foil, this will ensure more even baking.  Spray with 'Pam for baking' or grease as you prefer.
Combine fruit, water, butter and sugar is large saucepan. Put on high heat til comes to boil and sugar is dissolved. Cool. (can do this day before),
Add well beaten eggs and brandy if using, then flour, bicarb and salt.  Pour into prepared tin and place thoroughly soaked newspaper under tin.  Bake at 325F for one hour, turn down to 300 and cook for about another hour, or maybe even 2, til toothpick comes out pretty much clean.
I make this cake over Thanksgiving weekend and store in a Tupperware like container.  Pierce the cake all over with a skewer and add one Tbs brandy once a week, or so.........
FROSTING:
Start this a  few days before Christmas,  I use 2 tubes of Marzipan to cover the cake.  First spread about 3 Tbsps of apricot jam over cake,  roll the marzipan as thinly as possible, using confectioners sugar to keep from sticking to your surface and rolling pin. Don't worry too much about how it looks at this point, it is very forgiving once you cover with frosting!  I usually cut a piece of marzipan that will pretty much fit the top, then cut pieces to fit the sides and fill any gaps with the bits left over.  You then need to leave for a day to dry out, covered with a clean (duh!) tea towel.  I use Delia's Royal Icing, which is a little more brittle than I would prefer but have not found a better one.
Present on a fabulous plate and decorate with a piece of holly from your garden! This cake does last a while if stored correctly. Oh, and I have heard all the jokes about fruit cakes, all I can say is that those jokers have not tasted this cake!